Friday, October 4, 2013

The Master's Sun

No! Don't leave me drama! You were so good! It's too bad that I don't have a roommate because I feel like I need to be mopped up and put into a bucket from all the sweetness there at the end. I could also probably use a dentist then too.

Initial Thoughts

This drama, like Who Are You, caught my attention because of the ghost premise and my already existing love for the movie Spellbound. It also didn't hurt that two of my favorite female actressesand Seo In Guk were going to be in this drama and I already knew that I liked the Hong Sisters, so right off the bat this sounded like a winner.

With the extension of the drama I was both nervous and excited because extensions can be tricky, but this one was used in a good way I thought because in the last episode it was couple central and it was wonderful and I felt that we were given an ample amount of time to say goodbye to everyone both alive and dead. It was a little slow because of all of this, but sometimes I just like to spend time with the characters and watch them live happily ever after.

The storyline

Our story is about Tae Gong Sil also called Tae Yang - meaning Miss Yang or Sun - who is able to see ghosts ever since an accident that she had which put her in a coma for three years. She lives in a rooftop room being a type of janitor for the building that she lives in since she can't really do anything else because of the ghosts that are constantly around her. Her room is also fulled with various objects from different religions to ward off ghosts. My favorite anti ghost charm is the one outside of her door because it is totally a Greg Olsen picture.

While she is out and about one rainy night helping a ghostly ahjumma, she is able to flag down Joong Won's car that is being driven by Secretary Kim. Much to Joong Won's dismay, Secretary Kim stops the car and a soaking wet potentially crazy woman jumps in. While in the car, Gong Sil sees a ghost and immediately jumps for cover, unfortunately for Joong Won, that is him since he is closest to her. When she touches him though, she realizes that making physical contact with him renders her unable to see the ghosts around her.

Finding this out, Gong Sil gets a job at the mall that Joong Won is the CEO of in order to stay close to him. She eventually tells him her secret and he decides to keep her close because he has been haunted by the ghost of his dead first love for 15 years, ever since they were both kidnapped as teenagers. Joong Won still had unanswered questions about that event and hoped to used Gong Sil as a way to get the answers that he needs.

Overall, I really liked the story and the physical contact schtick gave way to some great misunderstandings and allusions to what these two characters should or shouldn't be doing. I think it is because I have the sense of humor of a 12 year old so I am always down for a little inappropriate joke here and there. I thought that this drama did that well so it was funny but they didn't cross any lines that made it awkward. Good job Hong Sisters.

The characters (alive)

So Ji Sub as Joo Joong Won

I had never seen So Ji Sub in anything before this and I can definitely say that I am a fan now. I loved the way that he brought Joong Won to life and gave him so many layers. He had so many different sides to him from jerk to a bit of aegyo and it was all done very well. In the picture above he is talking to himself while using his hand as if it is something that can talk back to him, it was kind of hysterical.

Gong Hyo Jin as Tae Gong Sil

Before this drama I had only seen Gong Hyo Jin in Pasta which I did not enjoy, but I did see that she was a good actress from it. I don't think that I have ever seen anything bad about her either which is always a good sign. She, like So Ji Sub, had a large range of emotions and you couldn't help but love her as the broken Tae Gong Sil who just wanted a little piece in her life. One of my favorite things she did was when she was possessed by ghosts. She not only had to act as Gong Sil, but she had to be various other people and a couple of animals.

Seo In Guk as Kang Woo

Seo In Guk is another person who I have only seen in one other thing and that is Love Rain and let's be honest, he wasn't in that for very long, but I loved his character both the 70s version and the modern version. I don't really have a lot to say about him, but I feel like I should because I really liked his character. I'm sorry Kang Woo!

Kim Yoo Ri as Tae Yi Ryung

Here we have our second female lead and I can honestly say that I didn't hate her which was kind of a relief. At the beginning you think that you are going to dislike her because she has it is for Gong Sil, but she was kind of useless in her "evil" plans that she turned out to be comical instead. You actually felt bad for her at times too because she carried the burden of being the "little sun" to Gong Sil's "big sun" and it was her number one complex. It was also really funny to watch her slowly break down Kang Woo and finally convince him to go out with her.

Choi Jung Woo as Secretary Kim

In my experience in dramas, anyone with the name of Secretary Kim is okay in my book, the other Secretary Kim being the one in Secret Garden, I loved that guy. This Kim though was the captain of the USS Gong Sil and Joong Won and he did a wonderful job sailing it. He was always that bug in Joong Won's ear pushing him in whatever direction Gong Sil was in and then laughing about it when Joong Won though that it was his own idea. Keep being awesome Secretary Kim.

Kim Mi Kyung as Aunt

Kim Mi Kyung is actually the one member of the cast that I have seen in more than one thing. The first drama that I saw her in was I Miss You which also introduced me to my other favorite older female actress Song Ok Suk, but that's not important. And of the seven dramas that she has been in this year I have seen three of them, number for being Heirs which starts next week (yay!). I just love her so much! She's so talented and her character was one of those people who are a jerk on the outside, but by the end of the drama they are able to find that one tiny soft spot in their body and let it start to bloom.

Lee Jong Won as Uncle

I loved the Uncle so much by the end of the drama. He started out as a person that you just wanted to smack every time he came on screen, but then you learned that he is actually a giant goober. When we learn this about him, it is that much better to see him interacting with Aunt because they are such opposites. He was also a Joong Won/Gong Sil shipper by the end of the drama as well, much to Aunt's dismay. He ended up being one of my favorite characters for this reason because it was so opposite from what you first perceived him as. The characters (dead)

There were three different types of ghosts in this story: there were the one time ghosts that came and went with the stories that were told within the story, and a lot of the time you didn't care about them for more than two seconds; then there were the two ghosts below who were reoccurring characters who we actually cared about in a weird way; and lastly we had Cha Hee Joo, the ghost behind out main story.
I'm not mentioning Cha Hee Joo because I don't feel like it but I was totally in love with Coffee and Trash Can Ghost. They just popped up every once in a while to make us laugh but they did become a slightly larger part of the whole story and they were given good endings. I'm glad that they did get endings too and weren't just forgotten about because they did feel like actual members of the main cast and not just extras. Coffee Ghost

Trash Can Ghost

The OTPs

This really should be the four OTPs and one bromance because there was a lot of love in this drama and it was wonderful.
First we have our main couple, look how cute and snugly they are.

The chemistry between these two was great which can make or break a drama. That was the problem that I had with Who Are You. I felt no emotional attachment for the pairing that I was suppose to pair, but these two were so fun to watch. Their constant bickering and her persistence and then his persistence was just so fun to watch. I would watch the Gong Sil and Joong Won show all day and love every minute of it.

On to the second couple of Yi Ryung and Kang Woo

These two were such frienemiesthroughout the whole drama there was no way that they wouldn't be together in the end. The thing that I loved about this couple is that Yi Ryung was so persistent and unapologetic about her advances toward Kang Woo, he really had no chance in getting away. She was finally able to become a whale in his aquarium and that makes me really happy.

Couple number three is a little random, but I love it none the less and that it Gong Sil's unnie and the loose lipped security guard.

This was one of the relationships that the audience knew about before the characters did. The security guard was trying to get information about Gong Sil from her sister and he would always wonder why he felt so bad about tricking her. It because you love her, you fool!!!!

The last couple is that of Joong Won's aunt and uncle who were a little odd because they were such a miss matched couple.

Aunt was very cold while Uncle acted like a five year old a lot and received many stank eyes from Aunt throughout the drama. I did like seeing them grow closer as the drama continued though because Aunt was able to become a warmer person to Uncle. I also like that even though she was kind of a jerk, you could tell that she loved him in her own way.

Now onto the one bromance of the show and that title goes to Joong Won and Trash Can Ghost.

They were so funny because, of course, Joong Won couldn't see him so he would always ask TCG to flip the trash lid when Joong Won needed some confirmation about something. It was especially funny that Joong Won would use TCG as a romance counselor to help him with his pursuit of Gong Sil.

Final thoughts

As we left our main couple giggling and whispering in each others arms I so wanted to hold on to the drama, I'm going to miss it. The acting was great and the story line was interesting and it kept you guessing as to how a few people were connected and what really happened during that kidnapping all those years ago. The only real beef that I can think of is that we never were given any real answers about Gong Sil's ghost abilities. Yes, she was found in the mountains, yes she was in a coma, but I kind of want to know what she was doing there before the accident. Also, what was the accident? Did she just fall and hit her head? Don't go hiking by yourself kids.

If I have any problems with the drama, it is that Chun Hee's was totally wasted in this drama. He's just so handsome and talented, but he was only in the drama for a hot second and then he was dropped. His character was important, but couldn't he have come in earlier so that he could have actually posed some sort of threat to Joong Won?

Also, there was a severe lack of kissing in this drama! Since it was a Hong Sister's drama, I didn't expect anything crazy, because that's not what they do, but come on! Give me something! After all of those double entendres and awkward conversations, and we get is a couple kip presses. Granted, they were nice lip presses, but couldn't we have gotten just a little more? Please?

One last question, I didn't see Big, but for those who did, did the Hong Sisters redeem themselves with this drama?

What else am I watching?

Tree With Deep Roots - This is something that I have been meaning to watch and I am finally doing it! I am loving the cast and I would really like a recording of Kim Soo Hyuk voice so I can just listen to it all the time.